I’ve got the power!

Some of the cleanup work that awaits us this weekend in the back yard. This is the ass end of our neighbor’s tree, upended during the storm. It managed to avoid hitting their house, but left a huge crater in the lawn. Basil is thinking we should install a hot tub there…

Sixty-five hours later, CL&P let there be light again on Halsey Drive – and thank God for that.

The pioneer spirit we adopted upon waking to the cold and dark Tuesday morning following Hurricane Sandy was evaporating faster than the rush of those 80+mph winds that buffeted our region earlier this week.

I feel a little guilty – there are still so many people without power and faced with mammoth cleanup and other challenges. (You can come by to shower or do your laundry if you need to!)

Still, the return of electricity was cause for celebration, especially for Catherine, who had taken to layering tank top, shirt, sweatshirt, leggings, sweatpants, three pairs of socks and then declaring: “I shouldn’t have to dress like this in my house.”

Not like there was much we could do but escape to warmer climes during the day, then bundle up under blankets at night.

Last night, I taught Jazzercise and convinced Catherine to accompany me to the Jazzercise Center of Southwestern Connecticut rather than sit in the dark. On the way over, we got word from Basil that power had returned to my mother-in-law’s condo, so we figured we’d fumble for our clothes and other necessities in the dark, then head over there.

Before returning home, Catherine called the house hoping our power was on and got Basil, who assured her all was still dark.

So you can imagine our joy as we reached our neighborhood 25 minutes later and saw LIGHTS, including ours!

Funnier still was walking into the house to find Basil — exhausted from days of work trying to keep the mail moving — sound asleep on the couch, still wearing his coat and wrapped in a blanket.

I wish I’d had a camera to capture the look on his face when he woke up and tried to understand why he wasn’t still in the dark!